If you’re not too tech-savvy or haven’t quite finished that IT degree, you may have had experiences like this:

A virus pops up and pretends that it’s an antivirus—your antivirus. It tells you that your computer is infected and you should run a scan in order to destroy the problem. So you click yes, thinking that you are doing the right thing, but what happens is everything on your desktop starts disappearing. You start to panic and you’re not sure whether your files are ok or if they are lost forever.

This happens way too often and there are a lot of people out there that don’t know what to do. If you are not familiar with any computer languages or just don’t understand computers very well, you aren’t out of luck. Below are some tips that every IT expert knows to get rid of that pesky virus.

1. Open up Task Manager: for those who are computer illiterate, this window will show you in detail what is running on your computer. Depending on how often you look at this window, you may not know what is what. Viruses and clean programs will be in this list. A very nice web tool to use is ProcessLibrary.com. This site has nearly every process within its database, including viruses. Scroll through your Task Manager list and type in the process in ProcessLibrary.com. If you can’t find a description for the entered process, more than likely it is a virus or some form of malware that has not been recorded.

2. If you are able to, run your antivirus. Often when this specific virus pops up, the virus has disabled it. But sometimes, if you are quick enough, you can get your antivirus to kick in before the virus completely takes over. If not, your best bet is to get your computer in safe mode and try another program.

SuperAntiSpyware is a free program that can help. It’s available on SuperAnitSpyware.com (wouldn’t you know it). It finds and removes spyware, adware, malware, trojans, dialers, worms, keyloggers, hijackers, parasites, rootkits and rogue security products all in real time. This program works best in safe mode. So when a virus is hijacking your computer, restart in safe mode and run this program.

CCleaner is another free program that will clean up registry and also free up empty space as well as delete unneeded programs to help your computer run better.

3. After running SuperAntiSpyware in safemode, you will be prompted to restart your computer. By this point your computer should be virus free.

4. After all of that, update your antivirus. A fully updated antivirus has a better chance of detecting newer bugs than an un-updated antivirus. Make it a regular routine to make sure that your protection is up to date.

As you continue your IT education, you’ll find more tools to stop viruses from attacking your computer. If anything, always remember that there is a lot of freeware out there to take advantage of. If anything always maintain your antivirus and remember these tips to keep your computer well.